15 Chapter 14
Comfy
A word that I take very lightly, in the majority of my life. Harshness and Coldness were the only things that I've been commonly associated with. And the little good things that I've managed to experience, were just tiny specks that were easily forgotten.
But as this moment, Comfy is the best way of describing of what I'm currently feeling. A warm gentle sensation encompassing around me as I sleep on what seems to be cozy clouds. I feel like I'm in heaven.
But as I enjoy my comfortable situation, everything suddenly went to black. And I return to reality
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"Big bro, big bro, wake up"
"...H-huh?"
"Oh! You're finally up. I was getting worried"
"Arrgghhh... What happened to me"
"Umm.. Some person came here, carrying you. He told me that you passed out from work. Big bro, you shouldn't be overworking yourself. I thought we already talked, about this..."
"... Sorry..."
Hearing Claire's concerns, I can't help but feel bad about it. Here she is, getting worried about her brother being overworked. While in reality, his brother's impersonator was just fighting some monster earlier.
She must have really loved her brother.
-Sigh
"Just don't do this ever again, will you. I know money is important, but you're more important to me"
"Sorry..."
Being in this situation, I can't help but feel awkward. I'm never really good with sad stuff. So being in the center of this, is somewhat weird for me.
What do I do...
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"Ahhh... what time is it, anyway?"
"It's 8 PM"
"8 PM... Shit! I forgot to buy dinner!"
"Why are you more worried about that? You just passed out"
"Didn't I promised to buy dinner for tonight. You must have been very hungry, considering it's already 8 PM"
"You don't have to worry about dinner, I already ate when you were sleeping. The ones I bought for you is in the table"
"I see... wait a minute. Whose money did you use?"
"Yours, undoubtedly. The man that carried you also brought your salary along. He said, that you dropped it when you passed out"
From what Claire is telling me. It seems that who this person is, were holding my money when I was fighting the ant. Which is very kind of him/her to do. Losing that amount of money while in a fight, would be very devastating.
"Do you know what that person look like?"
"A-aahhh... well.. The person definitely looks young, probably in the same age as you. And he smells like crude oil, for some reason"
"I-I think I finally get who this person is"
"Is it someone that you know?"
"Sort of... Anyway, enough about that for now. I'll thank him, tomorrow"
"That's good. If you're wondering where your money is. I put it, in your jacket. Which reminds me... why is your jacket damaged, big bro?"
Hearing Claire's words, I suddenly got nervous. She probably is suspicious of me, due to it being ripped. Telling her the truth, is not an option. As such, I tried making some excuse as to why the jacket is damaged.
"A-ahh.. Some accident occurred while at work. Luckily for me the only thing that got damaged was my jacket. I.. I-I'm sorry for damaging it"
-Sigh
"I see... That jacket is pretty old anyway, so it's fine. I'll just borrow some leftover cloth at the workshop and repair it"
"You don't need to repair it. As you said so, yourself. The thing is pretty old, so I can just buy a new one from Grace"
"No... I'll repair it. It's big bro's jacket afterall, so it's a bit special to me"
"I see... just don't get yourself hurt"
"I should be the one, saying that."
"Haha.. well.. you're not wro-"
Moving closer to me, Claire suddenly gave me a hug. Burying her face deep into my chest, It gave me a somewhat warm feeling. She must have been deeply worried about her brother, for gripping me this hard.
"Please don't leave me..."
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"I won't.. I promise you that..."
It's quite comfortable to see, if I'm being honest. But knowing the lie that is my existence, I can't help but feel saddened. I now wonder, why I was brought here in the first place. Why this body and what's the mystery behind the Character Building Tool and everything. But having no answer with said questions, I live Bruce's life for now.
-Growwll...
"A-aahhh..."
Suddenly out of nowhere, my stomach started growling. It seems that the hours of not eating, has finally taken its effects.
"...Sorry"
"...Pffffttt.. ahahhahahaha, it's fine. You should probably go and eat now. The food is going to get cold"
And with that over, I finally get out of the bed and headed straight to the living room. In there I checked the food that Claire bought for dinner.
Arriving at the table, the food that await me was a very familiar one that I've been buying multiple times.
"It's..."
"I bought you Mushboar steak for dinner. I'm pretty sure you'll like it"
"... how many did you bought?"
"A-aahhh... not a lot"
"I said... how many did you bought?"
"... Including yours, I bought about 4 steaks"
Hearing Claire's words, I tried clinching her cheeks as hard as possible. The fact that she ate 3 steaks when I explicitly told her to slow down on said food, greatly disappointed me.
"Aaahhhhh!!! Sorry-sorry, I won't do it again"
"You better be. I'm already having a hard time, clinching your cheeks. One more steak and you'll probably turn obsessed"
"A-aahhh!! I'm not fat. I'm perfectly shaped, as I can be!"
After a few minutes, our little commotion eventually ended. Eating Mushboar steak for the 2nd time, I can still say that it's quite good. After dinner ended, me and Claire in the end went to our beds; Mine being the sofa. And ended the day, quite satisfied.
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With another day, arise. I began my morning, by walking to the elevator. As for my destination, Its none other than the Facility Computer Room. Checking my belongings after the ant incident, I've managed to discover that my pistol was missing. Knowing that they also hid my money, while I was fighting the ant. They might know a thing or two about my missing gun.
Arriving at the 8th floor, I headed straight to the Computer Room.
"Yo! Bruce, fancy meeting you here again"
"Y-yo, to you as well"
"Ahahahaha... you're a funny one. What might your reason be, being here again?"
"I think you know what I'm here for"
"Right... If you're looking for your gun, It's in old man's hands"
"Thanks"
"Anyway, that was dope of you yesterday. Fighting and killing a Soldier Psionic Ant. If it were me, I would be shitting my pants"
"Good for you..."
"Hahahahaha... I'll go back to work, now. Say hi to the old man, for me. While you're at it"
"I thought he was your boss"
"True... But old man Heisenberg, rarely gets out to that room"
"...Fine. Also, thanks for yesterday. I've heard that you carried me back to my dorm"
"No problem"
And with our conversation over, I headed straight to Heisenberg's room. Knocking on the door, I await for a response.
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"Enter"
Finally hearing a response, I quietly enter the room. Entering the place, for the second time. I can quite see that it's still dark as ever.
"Don't you have lights, at this place?"
"Well... With a robotic eye, I never really had problems with the dark"
"Quite convenient, I suppose..."
"Indeed... What's with the change of attitude. You were very timid, the first time I saw you"
"Let's say... I wasn't very fond of almost getting killed, yesterday"
"Everybody does... Anyway... here's your gun"
Holding my pistol in his hand. Heisenberg suddenly throwed it, at my direction. Catching the thing quite easily, I then put it back in my jacket.
"I'm pretty sure... The gun isn't the only thing, you're here for"
"You're not wrong. You kind of forgot the part where you train me with Thought Control, yesterday"
"Hahahaha... Isn't the little nodus, I brought yesterday, your training"
"I certainly don't feel so"
"Well you should. The of the qualifications of being a good Thought Control user, Is one's Fortitude and Will"
"What?"
"The little ant incident from yesterday. Was just me testing you, if you have the qualifications to be taught by me. And judging from yesterday's performance, I can quite say that you've pass"
"So... you'll finally teach me, now?"
"Sure... I still do owe you that"
"I do hope that it's not another ant encounter"
"Relax, kid... Repeating the same thing, would be very stale. So to start your training, you'll be using this"
Out of nowhere, Heisenberg suddenly summoned a potted plant. From the looks of it, the plant was very familiar to me. For the fact, that it's the one I've been using to train with Psionics, all this time.
"Isn't this the Divination Flower? I thought you'd be training me with Thought Control, not basic Psionics"
"You are. Just let me finish my explanation, first"
"Sorry..."
"Well, with that said... I'm pretty sure, you already know what this is?"
"A Divination Flower, a plant that is able to tell one's psionic category. And good tool for psionic training. I already all of this, why question it?"
"And I suppose you already how this flower reacts, if you project a Thought Control psionic energy on it"
"It moves, right?"
"You're not wrong.. But.. There's more to it"
"What do you mean?"
"Basically, as a Thought Control User. You mostly have the ability to control and bend the minds of any creature you see. And as how it relates to the flower, you can essentially control of its movements when projecting your energy on it"
"So... Does that mean.."
"Indeed.. This will be your Thought Control Training for the today. Stop the flower's random movement and fully control it. This is a very basic Thought Control Training so I expect you to fully control it by tomorrow. And if you don't... then say goodbye to me, ever training you"
"Wait! What the hell, you expect me to do that in one day. I can't even make that flower react in each of the category's reaction individually. And you're telling me to control it"
"That's not my problem"
"I'm just a beginner at this"
"With high potential"
"W-what..."
"Listen kid... I rarely ever teach people about psionics. I wouldn't have even consider teaching you, if weren't for Isaac begging me. I have a very high standards when it comes teaching, you see... So if you can't handle that, then I suggest you to stop. Cause the world of psionics isn't as kind as you may think"
Hearing his words, I can't help but be intimidated. The total changed of tone and weight of his expression, seems to indicate that his very serious about his speech. But even so... I can't back down, now. I already reached this far, in Psionics. And backing off at this moment would just waste all the training and decisions that I did.
"Promise me this..."
"..."
"Promise me that if I do what you asked, you'll properly teach me Psionics"
"Huh?"
"All you ever did was produce some test and let me faced it by my own. You never really taught me everything, for someone who's supposed to teach me. So if I did what you asked, you'll have to properly teach me Psionics"
"... Hahahahah.. Sure.. If you manage to do it, that is"
"Just watch me"
"Oh... I'll be watching, so I hope you don't disappoint"
Grabbing the potted flower, I then leave Heisenberg's room. But before I even reached the door, I tried telling the old man one last word.
"Oh right... Jesse said hi, by the way"
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-Sigh
"Still childish, as ever
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Riding the elevator, I immediately headed straight to the Training Room. In there, I tried practicing on how to control the flower's movement, for hours.
"Shit!"
Why won't it change...
Spending hours on the flower, I've yet to managed on changing the flower's reaction. All my results, is still the same as I began training with Psionics. Random movements, growth, and emission of spores. I feel like I'm just wasting my time.
Is it even possible for me to make this flower react in its various reactions individually...
Exhausted with my effort's, I tried resting for a few minutes. Thinking about my situation, I'm starting to regret with my decision of putting most of my points in all categories.
If training was going to be this hard, I should have started with individual categories instead of all three. Fuck me, for not thinking this through.
While deep in thought, I wasn't able to noticed that Lily already entered the room.
"Quite the long face"
"A-aah! Miss Lily, I didn't see you there"
"What's with the Miss, I'm not that old"
"Sorry..."
-Sigh
"What are you doing anyway?"
"Umm.. I'm training, mainly on controlling this flower's movement"
"I see you already reached that part"
"I suppose... But I'm having quite a hard time, with all of this. I can't even change the flower's reaction to be on the Thought Control response. And his expecting me to control it, in one day"
"And you're pissed about it?"
"More than pissed, I'm actually livid about it"
"Hahahaha, your reaction is very natural to see when it comes to sir Heisenberg"
"What do you mean?"
"Let's just say that a lot of people tend to not have a good impression when it comes to sir Heisenberg teachings"
"Huh.. I can see why"
"Hahahaha.. But rest assured that despite his strict demeanor, his a very good teacher. So, I advise you to not waste this grand opportunity"
"Right... But he won't be teaching me for too long, if I don't manage to control this bloody flower"
"I see..."
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"Have you tried calming down for once, Bruce?"
"What?"
"Well... Judging from what I'm seeing. It seems that you're very stressed out when training with the flower"
"I can't really help it, today's my only time limit. And if I can't do it, then I'm very screwed"
"The classic eh.."
"What?"
"Nothing... But a piece of advice for a fellow psionic user. You should try calming down"
"Wow.. What a wonderful advice, truly world breaking"
"Quit being sarcastic will you, I very serious about it"
"Does calming down help my problem in any way?"
"In a sense"
"How do?"
"Have you already forgotten about Isaac's lecture. Psionic categories are based on the user's personality and experiences. And as a piece of advice. In all the time we researched about psionics, we've noticed that a majority of the users personalities tend to fall in different classifications depending on their psionic categories"
"How does that help me, in any way?"
"Well... considering that you're having trouble in Thought Control, I might as well tell you. Thought Control users tend to be calm and collective when it comes to different situations. They favor logical thinking above all and for the most part decides on things through logic instead of their emotions. So if you want to control the flower's movements, I suggest try thinking like a Thought Control User"
"Huh.. That's quite interesting... Could you tell me more about it"
"Well, too bad. I still have work to do, so I don't have time with all of this"
"What' a shame, I guess I'll go back to practice, now"
"You better be. Otherwise all that effort we did, would just be wasted"
"I see.. Thanks for the advice. Miss Lily"
"I thought I already told you, to stop calling me that"
"Sorry"
With our conversation over, Lily then continued to do her usual work. With me left alone at Training Room, I let a massive sigh at the place and then continued to practice with the Divination Flower. With Lily's advice in mind, I became more confident at tackling this current obstacle.
-End of Chapter 14
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Author Note: I finally created my own Patreon. So if anyone is willing to help me out. You can check the link.
https://www.patreon.com/Bread_Destroyer
(P.S: I genuinely feel like I'm becoming a gold digger by asking people money. So I'm sorry, if you find this annoying)
